April 1, 2012
Ricoh Coliseum (Capacity: 7,851)
Toronto, ON
Toronto Marlies vs Grand Rapids Griffins
Final Score: 4 – 2
* The arena has been renamed Coca-Cola Coliseum
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My brother joined me for an end of season trip to where hockey is the center of attention: Toronto, Ontario. This city of over two and a half million, is the largest in Canada and is located in Southern Ontario. I’ve been here before and have marveled at what a beautifully clean, modern cosmopolitan city it is. In fact, it is so diverse that nearly half of its population comes from outside of Canada. After seeing the Maple Leafs the night before, we stayed in Toronto the next day to check out their farm team, the Marlies. There is quite a history in the city of having a team feed prospects to the Maple Leafs, however in the early years, it was mainly done through the junior route. After the AHL became the main developmental league, St. John’s was a long standing Leafs affiliate. That all changed in 2005 as Toronto brought the club back home. Since then, only the 2007-2008 season brought great success as they won a division title and advanced to the conference finals. Normally, I am adamantly against a minor-league team playing in the same city as the major league club. But I can live with it here given that they have a separate building and such a passionate local hockey following. The Marlies’ home arena has a very interesting story as the building originally known as the CNE Coliseum was built in 1921, but never hosted hockey. Instead, it housed agricultural shows and was the showcase arena for the huge fair known as the Canadian National Exhibition. Then in 2003, a huge renovation took place to essentially create a hockey arena. This makes for quite a surprise as fans see the historic outside and then enter into a modern arena inside.
Prestige Ranking: 3.5 out of 5
Location
Ricoh is located in Exhibition Place right along the lakeshore, just a little southwest of downtown. The main role of Exhibition Place is to serve as host for the CNE and the place has many historical buildings, sites and parkland. However, most of this isn’t really what I would call pre or post game entertainment with the area mostly used just for events. The closest neighborhood is the older and increasingly trendy Liberty Village (about a 10-20 minute walk). There are several pubs and restaurants here. Also close by is the historical site Fort York. Most of what you want to experience when you come to Toronto is a couple miles away as you’ll find downtown attractions like the Hockey Hall of Fame, CN Tower and a lively night scene.
Location Ranking: 7.5 out of 10
Accessibility / Parking
The arena is easily accessible using Lake Shore Boulevard, which is right off of the Gardnier Expressway. A couple roads within Exhibition Place bring you to the facility (well, I guess they’re roads, the dividing lines were almost impossible for me to see). The whole area can have some heavy traffic, especially during the workweek or at any time on the Gardnier. As for parking, there are many lots and an indoor garage. The problem is that other events use these and this can complicate matters as parking on those days become very limited. If driving, make sure to check the Marlies website to see if there is an alert. Otherwise, public transit is widely accessible as there is a GO station right in front of the arena, allowing for a regional train to be taken here, or you can use one of the TTC streetcars.
Accessibility / Parking Ranking: 5.5 out of 8
Exterior
The old brick building is remarkably charming and well worth a complete walk around to take in. Ricoh is connected to several other buildings and though the arena’s North side looks to be the main entrance, it is not. This side features two limestone domes on top of a couple columns and the arena name is attached above the doors on the tan-colored brick walls. As most folks enter in the southwest corner, check out the south entrance towards the underground parking deck. It’s crazy because it is completely inside and enclosed by a canopy, yet you are still looking at the arena’s exterior. Very cool entrance.
Exterior Ranking: 9 out of 10
Concourse
Before walking through the turnstiles, the Marlies made use of an annex off of the concourse and turned it into Marlies’ Alley. Great idea and the set-up is ideal for families as there are a ton of games for the kids. The concourse surrounds 3/4ths of the arena and is tight when a decent sized crowd shows up. At least there are also a few open areas with couches and standing tables. Lots of blue out here and various Marlies logos and murals are painted on the walls. The Leafs should follow the Marlies and liven up their concourses with some history like the Marlies do in their arena as there are numerous displays.
Concourse Ranking: 3 out of 5
Food
Food-wise, there’s a ton of it, and it is like you’re in an NHL arena with the options available. Specialties like crapes, candy apples, a noodles stand and many different styles of chicken wraps make it worth while (though expensive) to save your appetite. My favorite had to be “Smoke’s Poutinerie” specializing in various types of Poutine, a Canadian dish originated in Quebec. Beer options were lacking a little in variety though.
Food Ranking: 7.5 out of 8
Interior
Aside from the surprise of seeing a newer interior design after the initial older introduction, there’s nothing overly exciting here. A one-level seating bowl circles the rink in a standard shape with a walkway set-up close to the glass. There is a lot of room behind the seating (especially at the west end) and that’s nice both for walking and watching the game as standing sections are available with a counter for leaning or resting drinks/food. One thing I noticed was how the openings to the concourse were quite expansive as they cut out a lot of the seats. Luxury suites are close to the low roof as they hang over the first 7-8 rows of the seating bowl. The other specialty area, Rogers Red Zone, is on the floor near one end of the ice. The red zone uses open space for getting a close view and allowing fans to sit at tables as they casually watch the game. Unfortunately, the red from both Rogers and Ricoh is out of place with the blue colored seats. Silver is the color of the seats below the lower walkway. You can feel that this arena was retrofitted.
Interior Ranking: 6 out of 14
Scoreboard
The focus of this scoreboard are the four big video screens, which show live video and replays. The picture was distractingly foggy, to the point that it became irritating to look up there. Below the screen is the vital game information, along with a couple ad displays, focusing on Ricoh.
Scoreboard Ranking: 2 out of 4
Displays
Ricoh Coliseum starts with a good impression by featuring posters on the walls when you walk in detailing the history of the arena. Further down in display cases are memorabilia from both the Marlies and the old junior Marlboros team. The concourses remain decorative with several old pictures on the walls, something I’m a sucker for. Not sure why they took down their division banners in the arena as the main focus inside is on the Leafs. On the wall below the suites are small Maple Leafs (Leaves?) with player name and year when they came into the NHL. The feature is called “Developing Leafs since 1927” and though there seem to be some big gaps in years, it isn’t a bad idea.
Displays Ranking: 4.5 out of 6
Cost
Here’s where the whole Leafs affiliation thing sucks. By far, this is the most expensive place in the AHL. I frown upon the tricky advertising the Marlies use as everywhere they market “Tickets as low as $10”. But those are just a tiny sliver of seats in the upper end rows. A side seat is either $31 or $39. Plus, day-of-game prices go up $4. Then, the parking is ridiculous as Exhibition Place is in charge of that department and we paid $15 for the underground lot, while other surface parking was $13 (websites didn’t indicate the different costs). Tax is included in the concessions, thus giving prices like $7.96 for turkey on rye. Hot Dogs were $4.25 and a chicken tender/fry combo was $8. It may not be close to a Leafs game, but the cost of attending the Marlies is not cheap.
Cost Ranking: 3.5 out of 8
Fan Support
This is a tough one because it seems hard for the Marlies to find an identity as the majority of interest is related to the Leaf player development, as opposed to following the team success no matter who was on it. I did see a little Marlies apparel, otherwise the predominate Blue & White outfit belonged to the parent team. In the past, support and atmosphere have been pretty bad, but things seem to be getting better. I’m curious to see how they draw in this year’s playoffs (Editor’s note: they drew 6,244 in their first playoff game, a Thursday Night. Very good). Over the last few seasons, average crowds have increased and they are now in the middle of the league rankings with a season average closing in on a franchise high near 5,500. The Sunday afternoon game we attended had a solid showing with more than 2/3rds of the building full.
Fan Support Ranking: 5 out of 8
Atmosphere
Given that much of the crowd was made up of kids and youth groups, cheers were of the higher-pitched variety. The little things weren’t always noticed here, but the goals had a decent noise and many fans stood with arms raised (adults included) when Toronto scored.
Atmosphere Ranking: 8.5 out of 14
Other Stuff
The nickname Marlies is in honor of the former junior Marlboros team. It was shortened to Marlies to avoid association with the cigarette brand….I loved the entrance that the players take to the rink as they walk right through the concession halls, down to the ice….Old, wooden doors are scattered around the concourse as a tribute the Royal Winter Fair….Special thanks to Wayne Young on the visit.
Game
We saw a great game that featured the classic 2-0 comeback. Grand Rapids’ first two goals came within 15 seconds of each other in the middle of the opening frame. Philippe Dupois cut the lead in half during the second and then in the next period, he tied the game up as the Marlies were really controlling play. With less than a minute left in the game, Nazem Kadri flew in from the right side and put the puck in as he crashed the net. The review held up the goal and division-leading Toronto went on to win 4-2 after an empty netter. Grand Rapids was outshot 16-3 in the last period.
Stadium and Arena Visits 
